Traction belt



D. S. KENNEDY TRACTION BELT Jan. 2, 1934.

Filed Nov. 3, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BMW QSML,W%

D. S. KENNEDY TRACTION BELT Jan. 2, 1934.

Filed Nov. 3, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 2, 1934 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFEQE TRACTION BELT Donald Stuart Kennedy, Longparish, EnglandApplication November 3, 1932, Serial No. 641,067, and in Great BritainNovember 9, 1931 8 Claims. (01. 3i510) This invention relates to theconstruction of position. Fig. 4 is a. side view of Fig. 3 taken shoesfor traction belts for road vehicle wheels on line 4-4 thereof. Fig. 5is a plan of one of and of the overall type. A traction belt of the theside flaps detached. Fig. 6 is a plan view overall type is described inmy prior Patent Specishowing a separate spacing washer as the dis- 5fication No. 1,808,416. tance piece. 1

The present invention has for its principal Fig. '7 is an elevation,part section, of a springobjects to give improved track-adhesion, topreloaded link member, and, Fig. 8 is a plan thereof. vent wheel spininside the shoe, to render the Figs. 9 and 10 relate to a modificationof Figs. shoe to some extent self-cleaning and to facilitate '7 and 8.

l0 storage and also operative fixing of the chain. Fig. 11 is a detailView of the offset end of My improved shoe comprises a main tread one ofthe channel section members. portion having lateral flaps or wingshinged or Fig. 12 shows a modification of the side flap pivoted thereto,means being provided for limiting mounted upon a shoe composed of threechannelthe outward-opening or outward extending movesection members.

15 mom; of the flaps o1- wings, away from the normal The main treadDOItiOll Of the shoe is ShOWIl trough-forming position, but so that thewing in composed of a plurality of parallel and channelsaid outwardmovement cannot exceed a position Section ta b s a (11 Set transversely0f in which the plane of the wing is substantially the line of travelor" the traction belt, these mem-i in alinement with the plane of themain tread hers a a being separated by d sta Pieces 0 or is aboutparallel therewith. Each side of the d herea te d s b d. A Space p (12is thus 7 main tread portion of the shoe may be provided left betweenthe parallel members a and a with bosses or projections acting as stopsto The edges b of he Wa ls Of the Channels of limit the outward movementor outward swing of these memb rs a a are arr n ed to be engaged thewing. by the tread of the wheel tire (not shown).

h main tread tion of the h preferably These members a a have oblique oroffset ends or consists of a plurality of channel-section mem- Spursthese Spurs b acing to some sli bers arranged transversely of the shoeand havextent the tire ead- These Offset ends a e ing oblique or oifsetends or spurs to their walls Shown p v ded w th outer faces b and b soas to embrace to a small extent the tread of In the Channel-Section me bs d a 30 the wheel tire. These channel-section members are Spaced apartby the 100135 616 hereafter are spaced apart by means, for example, ofhscribed, while in Fig. 6, the channel-section memers or the likedistance pieces through which the hers (Hill are shown pa d ap by paratfore and aft extending bolts or spindles are passed, Washers c formingthe d a pieces The p these retaining bolts passing also across the endsfel'red Shape Of Channel-Section members a a1 35 of the walls of thechannel-section members and Will be clearly Seen in forming pivotalconnections for the side wings The Side p W s 61 d a e of metal and orflaps. The side wings are provided with folds pmvided With folds 100135d1 d2 Which engage or loops which pass into the channel of the chan-Suitable p 0 Spindles Such as the bolts e e Intel-section members andare there traversed by extending fore and aft Of the S1106 SO that theside 40 t Said retaining lt flaps or wings d are hinged upon such boltse e.

Instead of spacing washers between the chan- These bolts 6 6 also pthrough t e Channelnel-section members, the lateral flaps or wingsSection members a a1 and the w t W s c may be provided with additionalfolds or loops or other distance pieces, a d they are show p whichseparate and space apart the channel- Vided With retaining nuts 43 ti bThe offset ends or spurs b are deeper or The present invention ishereafter described hi r than the Walls of the members a al in the withreference to the accompanying drawings, flat portion of the main breadof the ShOey in which: also extend laterally well beyond the bore forthe Fig. 1 is an edge View of the improved shoe retaining pins or boltse c, and their outer sur- 3'10 in its opened out position, one side flapor wing faces are provided With contact faces b 17 These being showndetached. faces 19 b are above the level of the tread-en Fig. 2 shows ahalf plan view of the tiregagin d s b a d a a su a y ap d and inengagingside, and Fig. 2a the half plan of the clined one to the other (see Funderside of the shoe. Fig. 3 is an end elevation The side wings d d arecorrugated or grooved as 55 showing the side flaps in their inwardlyclosed shown at d from about their outer'extremity up 119 to the endadjacent to the retaining pin or bolt e, i. e. in a direction transverseof the shoe. The concave face of the corrugation or groove is towardsthe ground and the convex face is towards the side wall of the tire. Theinner end of the wall of this groove or corrugation d is in prolongationof the space between two adjacent channel-section members a 0, A portionof the shoe d, is cut away to form a shoulder portion. d*, whichshoulder is arranged to abut against the contact face b as shown in Fig.3, so that the inward movement of the side wing at is limited. Thesecut-away portions forming the shoulders 01 are adjacent to thehinge-forming folds or loops d d in the wings. This inwardly-closinglimitation is preferably such that the side wing (i cannot take up aposition in which its plane is at less than 110 to the plane of the maintread a ti I do not limit myself to that angle but it is im-- portantthat the angle between the wing d and the main tread a a should alwaysbe considerably more than 90.

On the other hand, limitation of the outward opening movement of eachwing d is provided by the contact face 19 with which the shoulder 02 ofthe wing can make contact. This outward limitation is such that themaximum outward movement permitted is one in which the plane of the wingd is substantially in alineznent with the plane of the main tread a a ofthe shoe, or is about parallel therewith, as will be understood fromFig. 1.

Instead of introducing a separate spacing washer c to form the distancepiece between the members a a (Fig. 6), I prefer to provide each sideflap or wing with the third fold or loop as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, toform the distance piece; this intermediate loop 03 also pivoted on thepin e, thus acts to hold apart the adjacent walls of the two members aal It will be noted that the shoulder d in the wing it can make contactwith either the face 22 or the face 19 so that in one direction itlimits the outward-opening movement and in the other direction limitsthe inward-closing movement of the wing d.

The wings d d may each be formed with slightly curved outer extremitiesas shown at al The fold 0r loop d d around the retaining bolt c e may becontinued back and such continuation be secured to the metal plate ofwhich the wing is formed: that construction will be clear from thedetached portion of Fig. l, the wing 01, the loops d d and thecontinuation d being integral. In such case, the shoulder d is cut intoboth plate at and continuation :5

Preferably, space is left between the folded back portion orcontinuation d and the plate at to form a housing d into which twoordinary chain links I can be inserted from opposite ends (see Fig. 2a)each such link i (at the end of the short length of chain connectingadjacent shoes) being retained between the folded back portion 03 andthe plate portion d of the side wing by a nutted bolt f passing througha hole f in the wing d and'through a corresponding hole in the portion dso that the end link 1 can pivot about the bolt I The folded backportion 42 also extends from the leading edge to the trailing edge ofthe wing as can be seen in Fig. 2a, being integral with and supported bythe three loops d d d. When the middle loop d is omitted, the distancepiece being formed by a washer c (as in Fig. 6), the folded back portion11 is supported by the two loops d (P.

Instead of ordinary oval chain links f between adjacent shoes, I may insome cases provide these hinged side wings d d with resilient linkmembers between two successive shoes. These resilient link members maycomprise barrels 5/ (see Figs. 7 and 8) fitted with enclosed springs harranged intermediately of the length of the link and between thecomponent parts thereof, in such a manner that the springs willautomatically take up any slackness between adjacent shoes in theoverall chain due to wear of the links 1. This resilient link member ispivotally connected at each end to a shoe member, either directly or bymeans of a single coupling link 1, or a twisted link 2'. One end of thebarrel 9 is shown bored as at 9 (see Fig. 7) for the sliding stem 7' ofthe plunger 7' around which is mounted the coiled spring h, and theprojecting end of the stem 9' is secured to or otherwise connected witha loop 9 pivotally connected with the adjacent shoe, as by means of atwisted link i. The resilient. link member can be quickly inserted intoposition between adjacent shoes to replace worn or stretched chain linksor other connections between those shoes.

The resilient link member may be made as a shackle comprising parallelside bars g and rounded or other suitable ends 9' as indicated inFigures 9 and 10. One such end 9 is shown looped through a twisted linki which can be connected to a pivotal axis upon one shoe. The other endis bored to receive a'sliding stem i similar to the stem 7' shown inFig. '7 and connected to a second twisted link '5 The head 7' of thisstem 7' is notched on opposite sides as at i (Fig. is) to engage theinside faces of the parallel side bars 9' of the shackle, so that thesliding movements of the stem or plunger are guided by the said bars anddistortion of the spring h is avoided.

The channel-section members a a on their track-facing sides may beprovided, if desired, with strakes of the known kind, riveted to thechannel-section members, one such strake being shown at a in Fig. 1 andin Fig. 2a, secured by rivets a While I have illustrated the treadportion of the shoe as composed of two channelsection members, spacedapart byvwashers or distance pieces, I may of course employ more thantwo such members, with distance pieces arranged between each adjacentpair. Fig. 12 shows by Way of example three channel-section members a aa and two separate distance pieces 0, the wing d" being provided withthree loops d to engage the hinge bolt 6; these three loops arecontinued to form a back portion housing the chain link connections, asdescribed. with reference to Figs. 2 and 2a.

When the traction belt made up of these shoes is in normal conditionsfitted to the two rear wheels of a six-wheeled road vehicle, the shoesassume the form of a trough due to the linkages f between adjacent shoespulling the wings d inwardly against the walls of the wheel tires on thetandem rear wheels on one side of the vehicle. The wings d can, however,move outwardly (until the limit is reached) under conditions of stressand in so doing increase the area of contact with the ground and add tothe width of the tracked area for the tires of those tandem wheels toroll upon.

Nevertheless, by limiting their outward movement, the wings areprevented from being accidentally pulled under the shoe during service,

or when the chain is being affixed in operative position upon thewheels.

For storage purposes, the wings and main tread portion of the shoe openout approximately flat (Fig. 1) The hinged connection of the wings d andthe open gap a between each two channel-section members a a will renderthe shoe to some extent self-cleaning. The rounded or domed corrugationd in the side wings prevents undue wear on the side walls of the tire,the transverse open gap a in the tread portion improves road-adhesion,and the edges of the walls I) of the channel-section members reducewheel spin within a chain of these shoes.

The pivoted wings or flaps d, which are normally turned inwards to formthe sides of the trough in which the wheel tires travel, have theiroutward movement limited so that they cannot exceed the alined orparallel position when the trough becomes flattened out, for example,under conditions of stress or when the overall chains are detached forstorage, and the hinge or pivotal movement of the flaps d is in allcases restricted by limiting stops provided between the pivoted Wingsand the main tread portion.

What I claim is:-

1. A shoe for a traction belt comprising a main tread portion,consisting of a plurality of channel-section members laid transverselyof the shoe, offset ends to said channel-section members adapted toembrace to some small extent the tread of a wheel tire, and side wingsp-ivotally connected with the ends of said channel-section members, saidoffset ends being provided also with contact faces forming stops tolimit the outward movement of the said wings.

2. A traction belt shoe, comprising a tread portion set across the lineof travel of the belt, said tread portion including a plurality ofparallel channel-section members, side wings hingedly connected by pinsto the ends of said tread portion, and distance pieces provided betweenthe said channel-section members, said distance pieces being traversedby the said pins.

3. A traction belt shoe, comprising a tread portion set across the lineof travel of the traction belt, said tread portion including a pluralityof parallel channel-section members, lateral wings hingedly connected bypins to the sides of said tread portion, and distance piec'es engagingthe walls of said channel-section members, said distance pieces beingprovided partly in the form of loops integral with said lateral wingsand partly in the form of separate washers, all said distance piecesbeing traversed by said pins.

4. A shoe for a traction belt of the type described, comprising a treadportion set across the line of travel of the traction belt, said treadportion including a plurality of parallel but spaced apartchannel-section members, side wings hingedly connected by hinge pins tothe ends of said tread portion, and loops upon said side wings engagingthe said hinge pins and entering respectively into the channels of thesaid channel-section members and into the space between adjacentchannel-section members.

5. A shoe for a traction belt of the type described, having a main treadportion set across the line of travel of the belt, a lateral wingpivotally connected to said tread portion on each side of the said lineof travel, and upper and lower contact faces provided on the said treadportion to limit respectively the inward-closing movement and theoutward-opening movement of the hinged wings, these contact faces beingangularly inclined to each other.

6. A shoe for a traction belt of the overall type comprising a maintread member, side wings hinged thereto, coupling linkages with adjacentshoes, said linkages being secured to said side wings, and means forrestricting in both directions the hinge movements between the said sidewings and said tread member, said restricting means for each wingincluding a plurality of limiting stops provided upon the said treadmember, and a stop provided upon the said wing, said stop co-operatingwith one of said limiting stops on the tread member to limit the saidhinge movement in one direction and with another of said limiting stopson the tread member to limit the said hinge movement in the oppositedirection.

7. A shoe for a traction belt of the overall type, comprising a maintread portion formed of a plurality of parallel channel-section membersset transversely of the line of travel of the traction belt, side wingsmounted upon the ends of said tread portion and pivotally attachedthereto by pins which extend from the leading edge to the trailing edgeof said shoe, a fold upon each said wing forming a distance piecebetween each two adjacent channel-section members, said pins traversingsaid channel-section members and said folds, coupling linkages securedupon the side wings of the shoe, offset ends to said channel-sectionmembers, contact faces upon the outer surface of each of said offsetends, the said contact faces upon each such end being inclined to oneanother, and a shoulder upon each side wing, said shoulder adapted tomake contact during the movements of the pivoted wing with either ofsaid inclined faces.

8. A shoe for a traction belt of the overall type, comprising a maintread portion formed of a plurality of parallel channel-section membersset transversely of the line of travel of the belt, side wings mountedupon the ends of said tread portion and pivotally attached thereto bypins extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge of said shoe,coupling linkages secured to the side wings of the shoe, distance piecesengaging the walls of said channel-section members, said distance piecesbeing provided partly in the form of loops integral with said side wingsand partly in the form of separate washers, said pins traversing saidchannel-section members and also said loops and said washers, offsetends to said channel-section members, contact faces upon the outersurface of each of said offset ends, the said contact faces upon eachsuch end being inclined to one another, and a shoulder upon the sidewing, said shoulder adapted to make contact during the movements of thepivoted wing with either of said inclined faces and to limit therespective swinging movements of said wing.

DONALD STUART KENNEDY.

